Usamos el telar de encuadernación durante el cosido.

to use

Breakdown of Usamos el telar de encuadernación durante el cosido.

• durante: during
• el telar de encuadernación: the book-sewing frame
• el cosido: the sewing (bookbinding)

Questions & Answers about Usamos el telar de encuadernación durante el cosido.

What does usamos mean here, grammatically?

Usamos is the 1st person plural form of usar: we use or we used.

In Spanish, this form can mean two things depending on context:

• present tense: we use
• preterite (simple past): we used

So by itself, usamos is ambiguous. In a standalone sentence like this, context tells you whether the speaker means a general present action or a completed past one.

Examples:

• Usamos el telar durante el cosido. = We use the frame during sewing.
• In a past narrative, the same form could mean We used the frame during sewing.

How can I tell whether usamos means we use or we used?

You usually tell from the surrounding context, not from the verb form alone.

Look for:

• time words: ayer, la semana pasada, siempre, normalmente
• nearby verbs
• the overall situation

For example:

• En este taller, usamos el telar de encuadernación durante el cosido.
  This sounds like a present/general habit.
• Ayer usamos el telar de encuadernación durante el cosido.
  This is clearly past.

This present/preterite overlap only happens with some -ar verbs in the nosotros form.

Why is it el telar and not un telar?